Testimony in Royal Oak murder trial focuses on stolen knife

With one witness unable to testify and excused from doing so, all parties involved — including a stand-in for the witness — read a transcript in front of jurors in the Alan Wood murder trial.

Wood is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and felony murder in the 2011 death of 80-year-old Nancy Dailey.

The testimony, which was given by Michigan State Police forensic scientist Amy Altesleben during a preliminary exam, focused mainly on the blue scarf used to tie Dailey’s arms behind her back, as well as fingernail clippings taken from Dailey.

Both the scarf and the fingernail clippings contained DNA that indicated a male donor. Wood could not be excluded as a donor of the DNA.

After jurors were dismissed for the day, Wood raised his hand and voiced his objection to the reading of the transcript. He was upset that his lawyer, Elias Escobedo, could not raise any additional arguments against Altesleben’s testimony.

Another Michigan State Police forensic scientist, Melinda Jackson, testified that the presence of blood was found on Wood’s jeans and hooded sweatshirt, as well as a wash cloth that appeared to have the outline of a knife on it. Blood was also present on the blue scarf.

Earlier in the day, jurors heard testimony from a Berkley family that briefly hired Wood to perform odd jobs at their home two months before Dailey was killed.

Sarah Paruch, who still lived with her parents in Berkley in September of 2011, said Wood spent about 15 minutes helping her arrange some cupcakes in her bedroom.

“I did notice him peering around my room,” Paruch said.

“He was only there for about 15 or 20 minutes, but it did make me uncomfortable.”

At that time, Paruch had a knife sitting on her desk that was “very special” to her. Paruch said the knife was made by “one of my dearest friends,” who is a blacksmith.

The knife was noticed to be missing when Wood left, as was another knife that was on the nightstand in Paruch’s father’s room.

Her father, Joseph Paruch, also testified Friday morning. He met Wood in September 2011 at a Home Depot in Royal Oak, where Wood asked Paruch if he had any odd jobs that he needed help with.

Paruch, who took Wood’s phone number, left without hiring him but turned around about a mile later and hired Wood to remodel a bathroom.

Paruch and his wife drove Wood to their home. Later, the Paruchs noticed the knife was missing, along with a firearm and some medical marijuana.

Investigators believe Paruch’s knife was the weapon used to slit and stab Dailey’s throat inside her home on Trafford Road in Royal Oak in November 2011. The knife was found buried in the median of Woodward, near Sunset.

Escobedo focused on the medical marijuana during his cross-examination of Joseph Paruch. He asked why Paruch reported the other items missing but failed to report the medical marijuana.

“It’s a federal crime,” he said.

The prosecution objected several times, stopping many of Escobedo’s questions about the medical marijuana.